Amid the gloom at Ibrox, two Newcastle United loanees brought joy to Rangers fans on Sunday afternoon.

Well, not exactly - but Newcastle loanees Haris Vuckic and Remie Streete appeared to have encouraged Rangers supporters during the 2-1 defeat to Raith Rovers.

Little could lift the mood as the Scottish Championship side bowed out of the Scottish Cup. Vuckic, however, enjoyed a promising enough debut as he netted for Rangers, while Streete was praised for his tough tackling during the first half.

The Newcastle loanee didn't last the half, however, coming off injured before the break.

Very disappointed with the result & Injury. Only got to show 43 mins of what I can do, hopefully back playing fitter and stronger soon #RFC

But the 20-year-old looks determined to prove himself at Ibrox, so too goalscorer Vuckic.

The general consensus among Rangers fans seems to be that the two Newcastle stars did reasonably well on their debuts - unlike the rest of the Gers side.

Whether they possess the quality to inject some much-needed urgency to the rest of Rangers' campaign remains to be seen. This, however, was a good start.

The controversy surrounding the duo (and the three others loaned to Rangers by Newcastle) has been plentiful, with boss Kenny McDowall telling reporters he has been told he has to play them in his starting XI. Based on supporter comments on Twitter from Sunday evening, though, that might not be such a bad thing...

Seeing Rangers fans slagging Vuckic and Streete is just pathetic. They're working harder than any of the other lot. Just because their loans

Tim Poole

Tim Poole is a sports journalist for HITC with a love of football, tennis and snooker in particular.His career to date has seen him speak to former Manchester United boss David Moyes, interview snooker world champion Mark Selby and be snubbed by Premier League managers and players in more than one language!He is a massive Roger Federer fan and lives by the motto that 'sport is life.' When he's not writing about it, he's playing it, be it football, tennis, basketball, badminton, table tennis, darts, snooker, golf or even water polo. He is better at some than others...